Andrew Balbirnie to play for Glamorgan in T20 Blast

Dublin: Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie will be playing for Glamorgan in the upcoming T20 Blast competition in England, including the knockout stages should the Welsh side progress, after Cricket Ireland approved the move by submitting a No Objection Certificate (NOC).

"I'm very pleased to see the deal go ahead - it's a fabulous competition, and having spent a few years in Cardiff during my university days, it's a city I know pretty well. I'm just looking forward to heading across and getting going with Glamorgan," Balbirnie said in a statement.

"It's a tournament I've watched a lot and have many friends who have played in it over the years, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to play with new people and learn from different coaches, as well as to play in a different tournament in different conditions.

"It's not been a great season for playing much cricket, so to be able to go over and play a short, sharp tournament of intense cricket will be enjoyable and a good way to end the summer," he added.

The 29-year-old, who was made Ireland captain in November 2019, was recently in England for a three-match ODI series, when he scored his sixth hundred in the format, a match-winning effort in the final game of the series.

"Andrew is a fantastic player with a strong record in the one-day formats and was in great form during the recent series against England," Glamorgan's director of cricket, Mark Wallace, said. "He is also very used to playing in our conditions and will add a lot of experience and class at the top of the order."

"With injury to David Lloyd and Colin Ingram's arrival looking unlikely due to travel restrictions, we wanted to add depth to our batting," he added.

The T20 Blast is slated to begin from August 27 with defending champions Essex Eagles taking on Middlesex at the Cloudfm County Ground in Chelmsford.